“I have not given up yet,” insisted Moraga Mayor Karen Mendonca after she received a letter from the US Postal Service District Manager informing the Town of Moraga that the post office on Country Club Drive will close permanently on October 14, 2011, despite her appeal to the Postmaster General and the intervention of Congressman John Garamendi.The United States Postal Service (USPS) has implemented several branch closures in order to restore its financial stability. “The U.S. Postal Service is facing one of the most difficult challenges in its history,” read the letter. The volume of mail has been steadily declining – first class mail was down by nine billion pieces this past year alone, and the loss of income must to be balanced by cost reductions. The argument in Moraga was that the office on Country Club Drive is profitable, a fact the USPS admits, and serves many senior residents who live nearby. As an alternative to the Country Club Drive location, USPS suggested that customers use either the main post office in the Rheem Center, or the offices located on the Saint Mary’s campus or in Canyon.